TOWN councillors in Minehead have voted to oppose plans to build a ‘roadside service station’ off the A39 roundabout at Ellicombe.
Forelle Estates Ltd is asking Somerset Council for planning permission to put a petrol filling station, a convenience store, a drive-thru Costa coffee shop, and an electric vehicle charging hub on the 1.7-acre site.
But the town council’s planning committee, chaired by Cllr Mimi Palmer, agreed there were ‘multiple material planning reasons’ why the unitary authority should refuse the scheme.
The concerns of the town planning committee members included the project’s non-compliance with the adopted local development plan, its impact on existing businesses, the close proximity to the edge of Exmoor National Park and its impact on the park’s ‘Dark Skies’ designation, inadequate highway access, and flooding.
Councillors accepted there were potential employment benefits with 35 new jobs promised, but felt they were outweighed by the impact of noise, light pollution, and damage to other local businesses.
They queried the necessity for the development and its potential adverse effect on Minehead, which already had three fuel stations and numerous food shops and cafes.
Councillors said the electric vehicle charging (EV) element of the plans was a minor part of the project as it was mostly about a convenience store and coffee shop.
They disputed the developer’s claim that Minehead had limited and inconvenient EV provision, because there were a number of existing centrally located charging points and these encouraged footfall and benefited the community’s economy.
Councillors also doubted there would be enough demand for a new EV hub as there were already several sites within a minute’s drive which had little-used chargers, and raised its ‘negative impact on fragile, isolated, local economies’.
It was pointed out the site was 165 feet outside Minehead’s development boundary and significantly further from the edge of Dunster, in which parish it lay.
Town councillors said Forelle Estates was inaccurately claiming a nearby veterinary development had set a precedent for development in that part of the countryside when it had actually been an upgrade or rebuild of pre-existing barns, and the business was clearly offering agricultural support.
Similarly, they said claims that Minehead Barbarians Rugby Club had pitches within the national park were misleading, because it was a seldom-used training ground and the club itself was outside the park boundary.
The committee recognised the local plan could be interpreted as allowing development in open countryside in exceptional circumstances, but did not see any circumstances with the petrol station and EV hub which could be said to be ‘exceptional’.
The planning committee also heard public concerns covering the issues of noise, light pollution, the suitability of the proposed access road and the likely need to upgrade the A39 roundabout, existing congestion on the roundabout, particularly on Butlin’s changeover days, Dunster Show, and rugby events, visual impact, flooding, and a clash with the local character of the area.
The planning application will eventually be determined by Somerset Council, which has already received more than 60 letters of objection from local people.